Wall Street Exuberant Again, Journal Woodcuts Reveal

Sure, the S&P 500 fell 9 percent last week as financial problems spread further beyond Wall Street. But now one troubled bank. Wachovia, is in such high demand that the federal government had to step in to mediate a dispute between two bitterly competing suitors, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. This must be great news for the economy, because Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit has lost the scowl added to his Wall Street Journal woodcut in the early days of the financial crisis. See his portrait, left, taken from WSJ.com this weekend. He's even forgotten how embarrassing it was when Wells stole the Wachovia deal out from under him! This must mean the panic is over forever, right??